How do you deal with a large litter of puppies? A Step-by-Step Guide

Caring for the Litter Right After the Birth

Co-authored by:

To care for a large litter of puppies, check the puppies every few hours after birth to make sure they are warm, well-fed, and not crying, which can be a sign that something’s wrong. If any of the puppies are pushed out of the litter, pick it up and put if back with the rest of the group so it can stay warm. Additionally, place smaller puppies close to the mother’s nipples so it can get enough milk. Within 48 hours, schedule a veterinarian visit so they can examine each puppy and make sure there are no health problems. For tips from our Veterinary co-author on how to recognize the symptoms of illness in newborn puppies, keep reading.

  • Kelly N. “I have a litter of 11 lab puppies who are weaning and transitioning to solid food. Reading this article made me feel better, knowing that Im doing things right. Its a ton of work keeping the area clean; thats the hardest part.”…” more
  • Tie a different colored ribbon around each puppys neck after he is born. This is really the only way to keep track of each puppy individually when you have more than a few. Check the ribbons each day to make sure they arent getting tight; puppies grow very quickly at this age.

    Make sure the puppies stay warm. In a large litter most puppies will stay warm by piling together. However, if one or two always seem pushed to the outskirts of the group, you may need to add some supplemental warmth, such as a hot water bottle covered in a towel.

    Weigh each puppy at birth and record the weight in a notebook. Just put the color of the ribbon down, followed by the weight. Include the date you weighed the puppies. Dont count on your memory for anything. Weigh the puppies daily so you can catch any lagging puppies early.

    Watch for signs that the puppies arent getting enough to eat. If they cry after they are finished eating or havent doubled their birth weight at the end of the first week, consider supplemental feeding. There are many commercially available milk replacers you can use to supplement meals. Follow the directions on the package and record how much each puppy eats at each meal.

    Even an experienced mom may need help if she gives birth to a large litter of puppies. While Mother Nature typically helps the mother dog provide and care for her pups, be extra vigilant and ready to step in if your new momma appears to need the help. Your main concern with a large litter of puppies is that some of the smaller ones may not get enough to eat or stay warm enough. Keep accurate records for each puppy from birth so you will know if you need to intervene.

    What decisions should breeders consider when deciding whether to supplement or not?

    Bremser: Deciding when to supplement can be a tricky thing. Broadly, you might want to consider supplementing if:

  • Your litter is very large, and you have more puppies than your dam has nipples.
  • You have a puppy with a cleft palate or other nursing impediment.
  • Your dam is a nervous first-time mother struggling to let puppies nurse.
  • There is illness in the dam such as metritis or mastitis, death of a dam, inadequate milk supply, etc.
  • How do you deal with a large litter of puppies?

    All breeders should be weighing puppies frequently to ensure that they are gaining weight. I believe the best practice for this is to weigh them at birth (before first nursing), then twice daily at the same time each day thereafter. Puppies should be gaining readily and quickly; any that are stalled out or losing should be considered for supplemental feeding.

    It is not unusual for puppies to lose or not gain for the first 24 hours or so while the dam’s milk comes in, but after that they should start gaining rapidly. Any puppies that are lagging behind or not gaining should be observed closely to ensure that they are properly nursing before deciding if they need supplemental feeding. They should be latching and suckling vigorously, with little to no milk coming back out of the nose. If puppies are latching well but not gaining, I would absolutely start supplementation.

    I have had to supplement a couple of litters here and there for various reasons. Once I had a puppy with a malformation to his mandible, making it hard for him to latch and create suction to nurse. He had an easier time with the bottle so while he was allowed to continue nursing normally with his siblings, I also bottle-fed him. Another time I had a litter of nine, and the dam just wasn’t making enough milk for them in the first few days. It can sometimes take several days for milk production to really ramp up, so I bottle-fed that litter in addition to nursing for the first five days. After that, they were able to get all they needed from the dam, so I was then able to stop.

    Most recently, I had a litter that developed some GI issues at around day seven. They really didn’t feel well and were lethargic. As a result, they weren’t seeking out their dam to nurse. I chose to tube feed those puppies because it was imperative that they receive enough calories so that they could get over their stomach upset. In that case, I was able to supplement for only a few days while they recovered then they resumed nursing normally.

    How do you deal with a large litter of puppies?

    How to care for a large litter of puppies – 2 week old puppies

    This edition is talking about the care of the mother dog and her puppies. We covered some of this topic back in August but have been asked by many pet owners in our remote communities for more information, so here you go! We hope that these basic tips help you ensure your mother dog stays healthy during her pregnancy AND she is able to raise a healthy litter of puppies. Mother and pups need to be kept warm, dry and clean as well as have adequate food and water.

    A dog’s pregnancy lasts for approximately 9 weeks. By the 4th week her appetite will start to increase as she tries to maintain her own healthy weight AND feed the puppies growing inside of her At this time, you should gradually increase the amount you feed her to twice her normal amount by the time the puppies are going to be born.

    Once the puppies are born, the demand on the mother is even greater. She will need to continue to have a supply of plenty of food and fresh, accessible water, both essential for milk production. Remember, the larger the litter, the bigger the demand on her so keep feeding her extra to ensure she doesn’t get too skinny from the pups taking so much from her. She can require up to three times her normal amount of food during the first 4 weeks of raising the litter.

    Puppies are born unable to hear or see for the first 14-15 days of life They are completely dependent on their mother to feed them, help them to poop and pee and to protect them. As their eyes open and their ears begin to have the ability to hear, they are still very dependent on their mother but are able to start to interact with their littermates.

    Weaning can slowly begin at 3-4 weeks of age BUT there is much more to it than just feeding solid food, it takes a full month to gradually and fully wean a litter and raise healthy pups. If you wean too quickly or too soon the pups will suffer and so will the mother.

    To start weaning, at 3-4 weeks of age, have the pups separate from the mother just for meal time, 15 minutes or so 4 times a day. Add softened food in a shallow bowl for them to get used to eating. This can be kibble (ideally puppy food) that is softened by adding warm water to it, cover the bowl, wait 10 minutes until you can mix it into a mush/gruel. In the beginning it should be pretty runny, like a thin porridge. Add a little more water if needed to keep it thin. In the beginning they will end up wearing alot of the food as they stumble through it, just clean and dry them off when they are done. As soon as they are done, let mom back in.

    They still need to keep nursing but gradually over the next month they need to be fed more food and nurse less. As the puppies grow and increase their solid food consumption, their gut cells change to be able to digest the solid food. As the puppies grow and learn to eat better, you can gradually thicken the mush by adding less water. You can add canned dog later on but that is more expensive than a watered down puppy kibble. It is also important to make sure they have a source of fresh water all the time. The mother will no longer clean up after her puppies as diligently, so clean out the area they are living (get rid of poop and wet areas daily) and keep them dry and warm. Wet, cold puppies won’t be healthy. Also, if they aren’t cleaned regularly, not only will it be very stinky for the owner caring for the litter but there is more chance of disease and parasites becoming an issue.

    Ideally, puppies should not go to a new home until they are about 8 weeks old. WHY??? They don’t need to nurse past 6 weeks, it seems like letting them go a few weeks early shouldn’t make any difference BUT it really does. Here is what happens in those last couple of weeks…

    Between 6-8 weeks of age a good mother dog begins to interact very differently with her puppies, she will begin to spend less time with them and will begin to correct them for bad behavior. She changes from being the main source of food to giving puppies lessons in how to behave around other dogs. She will teach the puppies when they are biting too hard, and will growl and interrupt any other unwanted behaviors. This teaches the puppy to understand interaction, how to read another dog’s body language and signals. The mother dog is also nurturing, affectionate and comforting, which teaches the puppy how to enjoy and seek affection.

    Between 6-8 weeks is also when the puppies’ individual personalities start to emerge. Some will be naturally more bossy and confident. Others will be less confident, less pushy. They will soon learn how to understand and interact with each other through play. During play, litter mates will yelp, cry, growl, or otherwise react when one puppy plays too hard. This teaches the rough puppy to change his bite level to be less harsh and will help him to learn social skills. The other pup will also learn how to show some submission to a more dominant dog. These lessons teach them both how to socially interact with other dogs. Litter mates also provide warmth and comfort for each other which teaches them to seek out dog company in a positive way.

    Leaving the litter before 8 weeks did not give the puppy the opportunity to learn about social interactions during this critical learning phase. Things like knowing how to meet other dogs safely, reading their body language, showing submission or learning when play is wanted are all situations they don’t have the skills to handle. They are clueless about what appropriate social dog behaviour is. Because they can’t read social cues, they will either under-react or overreact to other dogs. It makes them constantly on guard and tense. Other dogs react to the tense or fearful energy and body language displayed by these dogs. They are often, unintentionally, the cause of a dog fight.

    There are other things that can happen to a dog after it has left its mother and litter that can influence their behavior as an adult dog but leaving the litter too early has one of the biggest negative impacts there is on future behavior. The lessons learned between 6-8 weeks old, from their mother and littermates will serve them throughout their life.